NCPCR Call for Participation (as requested)

carter pate (CPATE@UTCVM.BITNET)
Fri, 20 Jan 1995 17:08:29 EST

MESSAGE FORWARDED BY CARTER PATE FOR INFORMATION'S LIST. THIS WAS ORGINAL
CALL, SO I'VE CUT SOME DETAILS
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PEACEMAKING AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION

WORKING IT OUT: CREATING INCLUSIVE SOCIAL STRUCTURES

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

MAY 26 - 30, 1995


ABOUT NCPCR:

NCPCR was founded in 1982 to provide a forum where individuals
working and researching conflict resolution processes in a
variety of areas and settings could gather to exchange ideas.
NCPCR is not member-based, and attendance is open to all who are
interested in issues of peacemaking and conflict resolution.
NCPCR's six previous conferences have brought together
practitioners, teachers, researchers, activists, and policy-
makers for training, workshops, seminars, and meetings of
organizations and interest groups.

NCPCR promotes the use and acceptance of non-violent approaches
to the resolution of conflict and the improvement of conflict
resolution theory and practice.

NCPCR is committed to using its capabilities and resources to
develop an inclusive society that values diversity and uses
collaborative processes to achieve peace and justice.

As a conference without walls, NCPCR provides an international
forum for continuing dialogue about the uses of conflict
resolution as a tool for social justice and a force for peace.


ABOUT THE 1995 CONFERENCE:

Despite the best intentions of good individuals, institutions are
often structured in ways that exclude and injure many people.
New structures are needed, built by everyone involved, on
principles of equity and justice. Making change requires us to
work out differences. How can peacemakers and conflict
resolution practitioners help ensure that old and new
participants alike are welcomed and benefitted?

The National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution
dedicates this biennial conference to renewal, inclusion and
reconciliation. We intend the conference itself to be an
exercise in change, a structure designed and built by those who
use it. The conference is being organized by a diverse group of
practitioners from many communities and disciplines.

Some directions are:

* innovative formats
* dialogue between practitioners in different fields
* opportunities for every participant to both teach and learn
* sessions of varied lengths
* consultation sessions for advanced practitioners
* training for beginners throughout the conference
* and more!

The scholarship program has been expanded. International
participation is encouraged. The conference will offer tracks
and mini-conferences for people working in fields, such as
community mediation, corporations, religious communities, schools
and the environment.


SOME QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

* How do we build institutions (communities, schools, hospitals,
etc.) that create and sustain inclusive participation?

* Whose voices and experiences are missing from the discussion
and practice of conflict resolution and what is lost by their
absence?

* Do the words we use ("racism,""power") promote or inhibit
"inclusivity"? How do they help or impede our ability to come to
grips with conflict in general?

* If we are to address issues of diversity and multiculturalism,
must we also challenge hierarchy and dominance?

* How do theory and practice in conflict resolution either
rectify or reinforce injustices?

What role can conflict resolution and peacemaking play in
developing a world in which we want to live?



SOME WAYS YOU MIGHT PARTICIPATE (suggestions to organizers, presenters)

* Teach skills (half-day to two-day workshops)

* Organize or join a panel discussion, roundtable, seminar,
talking circle

* Present research

* Do a performance, ritual, dance, other creative presentation

* Mediate c conflict, demonstrate an approach

* Convene a caucus or interest group

* Request/organize a track

* Propose a new format

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTTACT:


Linda Baron, Executive Director, NCPCR
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030
703 934-5141 (phone); 703 9324-5142 (fax);
lbaron@gmu.edu or ncpcr@igc.apc.org (e-mail)

Beth Roy: 415-552-8680 (phone); 415-863-3018 (fax);
broy@igc.apc.org (e-mail)

Mary Trujillo: 505-523-9381